“For my art event, I went to watch the classical ballet performance Giselle, which was part of the Nashville Dance Theatre’s Ballet in the Park series. I thought that sitting in the eerie park at night and watching dancers in white frilly tutus leap across the stage was breathtaking. The park provided the perfect backdrop for the dramatic, emotional choreography, and it was definitely something that could not be reproduced indoors. This event helped me respect even more not just the beauty of ballet, but also the amazing dancers, who are not only athletes, but also artists.” – Darwin Ferng

“I had the opportunity to attend the Tennessee Association of Craft Artists (TACA) craft fair at Centennial Park during the last weekend of September. Artists from Tennessee and several other states presented their works made from various media, including jewelry, textiles, clay, photography, and woodwork. I was fascinated by the innovative and diverse display of pieces and appreciate TACA’s commitment to develop an artistic community in Nashville and elsewhere and to share the talents of crafters as well as the art of crafts.” – Lia Sacks

“I went to the Nashville Symphony’s Free Day of Music at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. They had an event scheduled for every hour from 10 am to 9 pm. Each event was at a different part of the complex. Some were in the main hall, others were in the courtyard, and some were on the plaza at the main entrance. The fourth floor was dedicated to children playing on various instruments for the first time. I went with a friend for a short while. We watched Austin Peay State University’s choir sing and toured the center, visiting every floor, and the courtyard. It was really relaxing and enjoyable. It was fun to see so many people enjoying the same thing and see the role that the Nashville Symphony plays in the Nashville community.” – Elizabeth Coleman

Our first project grant went to Jeremy Chua, who applied funds towards a trip to Vietnam. In addition to completing a marketing internship with Grey Global in Ho Chi Minh City, Jeremy explored teaching English through dramatization, as well as wrote a travelogue that grew out of what started as a series of poems through the eyes of a dog. A few excerpts are posted below.

How does one negotiate the endless stream of motorcycles when crossing the hectic streets of Ho Chi Minh City? Such is the dilemma that separates me from lunch on a quotidian basis: a coffeeshop right across, an insidious streak of black fumes and invisible dirt, and an all-too-human shell ready to crack upon sudden impact. Against the inherent fear instilled by the convention evil of roads shoved down our throats by mothers and mothers of mothers, I have come to a conclusion that crossing the streets of Saigon is a protracted exercise in applied faith – - an almost irrational faith in the goodness of Vietnamese motorcyclists.And the Vietnamese motorists live up to such an aspiration, it is in their nature to unconditionally love their pedestrians. They have no singular intention to bloody the tired tarmacadam with your innards, as long as you have no similar intention of being dragged around the narrow Saigon streets from District 1 to District 3 on a sanguinary joyride. Without saying, one must understand profoundly the symbiotic relations of traffic ecology here. In other words, you must help the motorists help you cross the road: the natural politics of urban existence in Ho Chi Minh City. By some quixotic amalgamation of audacity and composure, the quaint shophouses right across the streets are yours and everything that is in them.Therefore, you must be at peace when you step away from the pavement. It’s like training to become a Zen master here. Hurl your fears away – as you launch into the dark sweltering roads gargling in the afternoon madness. Be as mad as the roads when you step out, but always have a quiet in a corner of the heart. And wade through the road like you wade through the ocean, allow the motorcyclists swim around you. Let go of everything, and keep moving forward with a quiescent mind. Close your eyes if you must, and keep crossing. But swerve, and you will awake to a helmet slamming into your chest, the fireworks of blood on the face. But swerve, and they will swerve with you, into you.

An Ode to the Saigon Rain

On Thursday, the rain was relentless. When the heavens broke apart, water came upon the dirty pavements, pits-and-pats slamming against old window panes and exposed balconies. I sat at my desk smiling at myself, appreciating the energetic conclusion to the sticky and slow afternoon in Saigon. The motorcycles were humming outside the office as usual, but there were now interregnums of silence dominated by gasps and groans of angry rain. It was a signal for my exit. One could never enjoy the urban rain within the confines of an empty and opaque box. I decided to leave Grey slightly earlier for Shri, where I was to have dinner with a friend. As I stepped out of the lobby, the roads had sunk into a forest of water and quiet.

The streetlamps went out first. The buildings lost their electricity next. “A blackout again,” I muttered. “Bloody hell.” The riot of daytime Saigon was fading slowly tonight, a literal plunge into the evening. Procuring a taxi in such conditions would prove an arduous exercise in teeth-gritting patience. I waited in the dark, my shoes filling up with water quickly.

]]>http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/uncategorized/jeremy-chua-in-vietnam/feed0Memphis: A Trip through Rock, Soul, Blues & Country Historyhttp://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/uncategorized/memphis-a-trip-through-rock-soul-blues-country-history
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/uncategorized/memphis-a-trip-through-rock-soul-blues-country-history#commentsThu, 15 Nov 2012 20:47:19 +0000maryann.n.augustine@vanderbilt.eduhttp://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/?p=450One of the opportunities available through CCRF is modest grant funding for individual or collaborative projects. Do you have an idea for a creative endeavor that could be enhanced or expanded if you only had some additional resources? We can help with that!

Memphis: A Trip through Rock, Soul, Blues & Country History

In 2011 CCRF hosted a trip to Memphis available for free to students, staff and faculty. With us was professor Steve Buckingham as we visited Sun Records, Stax Records, the Rock and Soul Museum, and Graceland! We also had a taste of authentic Memphis barbecue and get to hear some live music.

]]>http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/uncategorized/memphis-a-trip-through-rock-soul-blues-country-history/feed0Opening Retreat (2012)http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/uncategorized/opening-retreat-2012
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/uncategorized/opening-retreat-2012#commentsThu, 15 Nov 2012 20:45:14 +0000maryann.n.augustine@vanderbilt.eduhttp://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/?p=446On Sunday, September 23, the Creative Campus Residential Fellows met for their fall retreat. The retreat took place in the newly renovated Arts & Creative Engagement (ACE) wing in Sarratt. The students spent time creating goals and expectations for the year, and also heard a presentation by Cindy Young, Assistant Director for Special Art Initiatives at ACE. The students participated in team building exercises, and were also each given journals, which they decorated to symbolize their personality and creative interests. These journals will be part of the students’ project this year, which will be to write their ideas and creative expressions in and later develop an artistic piece that represents the themes of their writing. The theme they are founding their writing on is “Art is Never Silent,” which is the theme ACE has introduced into their new space in Sarratt.

]]>http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/uncategorized/opening-retreat-2012/feed0Applications for 2013-2014 Available!http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/uncategorized/applications-for-2013-2014-available
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/uncategorized/applications-for-2013-2014-available#commentsWed, 31 Oct 2012 19:39:26 +0000maryann.n.augustine@vanderbilt.eduhttp://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/?p=383Applications for the 2013-2014 year will be available online and in the main housing office (Brandscomb 4113) starting in November 1, 2012. Completed applications will be due in February 22, 2013 and paper applications are to be turned into the main housing office. After submitting a completed application, applicants will select a 20-minute interview (days & times to be determined); decisions will be made based on written materials and interviews. Please contact Maryann Rainey (Graduate Assistant, Office of Arts & Creative Engagement) at maryann.a.rainey@vanderbilt.edu with any questions about the application process.

]]>http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/uncategorized/applications-for-2013-2014-available/feed0Applications for 2012-2013 Available!http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/uncategorized/applications-are-live
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/uncategorized/applications-are-live#commentsThu, 19 Jan 2012 17:53:03 +0000maryann.n.augustine@vanderbilt.eduhttp://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/?p=248Want to be a part of CCRF for the 2012-2013 year? Click on the “Apply” tab at the top of the page. Interested in Vandy’s other awesome LLCs as well? Visit the Res Ed web page. I can almost guarantee you that this is the best decision you will make in the next 3 minutes.

]]>http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/uncategorized/applications-are-live/feed0Share a Bear 2011http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/uncategorized/share-a-bear-2011
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/uncategorized/share-a-bear-2011#commentsWed, 18 Jan 2012 16:08:24 +0000maryann.n.augustine@vanderbilt.eduhttp://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/?p=214This year, we took our 2nd Annual (hopefully!) Share-A-Bear event to the Martha Rivers Ingram Commons on reading day. It was a huge hit! While the event was only supposed to run from 2:00 to 4:00 we had a steady line of people from half an hour before we “started” until an hour after we “closed.” We made nearly 150 bears for kindergarteners, most of whom are severely underprivileged. The fun of the event itself was second only to the fun that came from seeing the kids’ faces light up.

As these photos clearly demonstrate, this event was nothing short of awesome. Here’s hoping we can make this happen every year!

]]>http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/uncategorized/share-a-bear-2011/feed0Holiday Arts Festivalhttp://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/uncategorized/another-semester-gone
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/uncategorized/another-semester-gone#commentsWed, 07 Dec 2011 18:24:03 +0000maryann.n.augustine@vanderbilt.eduhttp://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/?p=182It is hard to believe that winter break is already upon us. We in CCRF are already in planning mode for next semester, but we’ve got a couple other things coming up first.

This Thursday we’ll partner with the Holiday Arts Festival to present “Elf” in Sarratt Cinema for the final I-Lens movie of the year. Friday we’ll host our second annual Share-A-Bear for the kindergarten classes at Amqui Elementary School in Madison. From 2:00 to 4:00 in the Commons Center Atrium we’ll have stations set up for Vandy students to stuff and decorate teddy bears. It’s a great way to relieve some stress and do something nice for some needy children. Also: free snacks!

]]>http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/uncategorized/another-semester-gone/feed0Upcoming for the week of 9/26/2011http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/uncategorized/upcoming-for-the-week-of-926
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/uncategorized/upcoming-for-the-week-of-926#commentsMon, 26 Sep 2011 17:38:06 +0000maryann.n.augustine@vanderbilt.eduhttp://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/?p=157This week we have a couple different events on the agenda:

Tonight in the Vandy-Barnard lobby our faculty associate, Prof. Mel Ziegler from the studio art department, will present on some opportunities for small groups of students to pursue the alignment of creativity and the arts with service to the community. After that, our own Jeremy Chua will present on his summer spent in Vietnam and the resulting prose project that came out of it.

On Friday, we’ll have the opportunity to join other students from Alumni Lawn in going to see The Help. Dinner will be catered by Monell’s and we’ll use the use this dinner and film as a platform to discuss creative forms of activism. Friends are welcome! Email benjamin.william.smith@gmail.com for details.

]]>http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/uncategorized/upcoming-for-the-week-of-926/feed0First Creative Leadership Salon, with filmmaker/multimedia journalist Rich Beckmanhttp://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/uncategorized/first-creative-leadership-salon-with-filmmakermultimedia-journalist-rich-beckman
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/uncategorized/first-creative-leadership-salon-with-filmmakermultimedia-journalist-rich-beckman#commentsTue, 06 Sep 2011 19:27:05 +0000maryann.n.augustine@vanderbilt.eduhttp://www.vanderbilt.edu/ccrf/?p=92Last night we gathered with the Curb Scholars to hear from Rich Beckman, who is the Knight Chair of Visual Journalism at the University of Miami. Professor Beckman showed us some of his and his students’ work, sharing the stories of some whose stories may not otherwise be told. This was truly a fascinating session, as we learned the stories of a journalist’s triumph over severe physical handicap, the dangers of childbirth in Sierra Leone, the plight of the Roma in the E.U., a determined mother’s efforts at making her neighborhood safer, and even a 13-year-old boy who is so much like Michael Jackson that he may be the next best thing.

One of the biggest takeaways from this session is that stories don’t really belong to journalists; they belong to their subjects. The digital age affords us vast new opportunities in accessing and reporting information, but we must never mistake the amplification and presentation of someone’s story for ownership.

To see some of the projects in which Rich Beckman has been involved, check out these links. I believe you will find them humbling and inspiring. Enjoy!